Developing W-ICAD as a means of enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion within museum digital audio interpretation

博物馆的核心目的是与观众交流他们的藏品。在AHRC-NEH资助的项目（AH/W005549/1）中，我们开发了包容性共同创建音频描述研讨会（W-ICAD）。wicad为博物馆提供了一种支持与观众交流的新工具。它通过重新定义博物馆思考和制作数字音频描述（AD）的方式来实现这一点。AD通常被描述为通过视觉获得信息的口头描述。对于想要体验博物馆藏品的盲人和部分盲人观众来说，这是一个重要的工具。在英国和美国，博物馆都有法律义务确保公平地访问其藏品。然而，博物馆需要大幅增加博物馆内部和网上的广告供应。借助数字革命带来的机遇，世界广告日为各博物馆提供了一种新的、公平的、包容的方式来共同创作广告。它提供了理论基础和实践过程，将博物馆数字音频解释转换为博物馆内部（通常通过手机）或在线使用。W-ICAD通过利用心理学和神经科学的证据来改变思维，反驳支撑当前博物馆广告实践的三个关键隐性偏见：(1)通过视觉“体验”是客观的；(2) AD仅对盲人或部分盲人有益；(3)完全视力为人们提供了一种特殊的视觉艺术体验，因此视力正常的人必须为盲人和部分失明的听众做描述。W-ICAD通过为博物馆提供一个制作广告的模型来改变实践，该模型重新定义了博物馆广告是如何创建的，它是为谁而设计的，以及谁来进行描述：拥抱了描述者的主观性和生活经验；对盲人、部分盲人和视力正常的观众的描述是平等的；描述由部分失明的共同创作者领导，与盲人和视力正常的共同创作者合作。通过W-ICAD，我们改变了观众（在博物馆和网上）体验博物馆藏品的方式。这笔后续影响和参与资金将使我们能够将世界文化遗产规划纳入博物馆实践，同时扩大其在博物馆和遗产部门的影响力。我们将与英国和美国的8家W-ICAD旗舰博物馆合作，使包容性的共同创作的音频描述成为他们与观众交流的标准部分。合作伙伴包括：全球领先的国家组织（英国国家科学与媒体博物馆、英国达克斯福德帝国战争博物馆、英国利物浦国家博物馆、英国自然历史博物馆、美国史密森学会）；中大型博物馆（美国Eiteljorg博物馆和美国weexner艺术中心）和小型组织（美国Heurich House）。通过这些部门合作伙伴，我们将扩大国际农业发展会议，纳入：-描述不同的环境（包括外部环境）、不同的艺术作品（包括抽象作品）和博物馆藏品-共同创作的多感官体验音频描述，包括描述触觉探索-博物馆解说中的不同生活体验（如交叉性、不同的文化背景）-为W-ICAD的共同创作者提供指导，以支持他们合乎道德和敏感地描述多样性最大限度地扩大W-ICAD的影响力，并确保其遗产，我们将与我们的旗舰博物馆合作，为博物馆专业人员、广告从业者和利益相关者创建一个开放的在线W-ICAD培训课程。这将使世界各地的其他博物馆能够在其数字广告（在博物馆内或在线）的解释战略中实施W-ICAD。在博物馆实践中推广和实施这一模式将加强对当前实践中残疾主义偏见的认识，并增强博物馆部门内外的公平、多样性和包容性。

Central to the purpose of a museum is communicating with their audiences about their collections. Within the AHRC-NEH funded project (AH/W005549/1) we developed the Workshop for Inclusive Co-created Audio Description (W-ICAD). W-ICAD provides museums with a new tool for supporting communication with audiences. It does this by redefining the way that museums think about and produce digitally available recorded audio description (AD). AD is often described as a verbal description for information available through vision. It is a key tool for blind and partially blind audiences who would like to experience museum collections. In both the UK and US, museums are legally obliged to ensure equitable access to their collections. However, museums need to dramatically increase AD provision both within museums and online. Building on opportunities afforded by the digital revolution, W-ICAD provides museums with a new, equitable and inclusive way to co-create AD. It provides both a theoretical rationale and a practical process that will transform museum digital audio interpretation for use within the museum (often via a mobile phone) or online. W-ICAD transforms thinking by drawing on evidence from psychology and neuroscience to refute three key implicit biases that underpin current museum AD practice: (1) 'experience' through sight is objective; (2) AD is only beneficial to blind or partially blind people; and (3) full sight provides people with a privileged experience of visual arts, and therefore sighted people must do the describing for blind and partially blind listeners. W-ICAD transforms practice by providing museums with a model for producing AD that redefines how museum AD is created, who it is for, and who does the describing: subjectivity and the lived experience of the describers is embraced; descriptions are created equally for blind, partially blind and sighted audiences; description is led by partially blind co-creators, in collaboration with blind and sighted co-creators. Through W-ICAD, we have transformed the ways in which museum collections can be experienced by audiences (in museums and online).This follow-on impact and engagement funding will enable us to embed W-ICAD into museum practice, whilst extending its reach within the museum and heritage sector. We will work with 8 flagship W-ICAD museums, across the UK and US, to make inclusive co-created audio description a standard part of their communication with audiences. The partners include: globally-leading national organisations (National Science and Media Museum, UK; Imperial War Museum Duxford, UK; National Museums Liverpool, UK; Natural History Museum, UK; Smithsonian Institution, US); Medium - large size museums (Eiteljorg Museum, US & Wexner Center for the Arts, US) and Small organisations (Heurich House, US). With these sector partners, we will expand W-ICAD to incorporate: - description of different environments (including exterior), different artworks (including abstract) and museum objects- co-created audio description for multisensory experience including describing tactile exploration - different lived experiences (e.g.intersectionality, diverse cultural backgrounds) within museum interpretation- guidance for W-ICAD to support co-creators to ethically and sensitively describe diversityTo maximise the reach of W-ICAD, and to ensure its legacy, we will work with our flagship museums to create an open access online W-ICAD training course for museum professionals, AD practitioners and stakeholders. This will enable other museums across the world to implement W-ICAD within their interpretation strategy for digital AD (available within the museum or online). The promotion and implementation of this model within museum practice will strengthen awareness of the ableist biases within current practice and enhance equity, diversity and inclusion within the museum sector and beyond.